


An Adequate Reassurance

by tansybells



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Jealousy, Making Out, On-Again/Off-Again Relationship, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Secret Relationship, Spoilers for Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:35:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24912457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tansybells/pseuds/tansybells
Summary: Hilda can get why Monica would want to return to her original class after being rescued from the Death Knight. What shecan'tget, however, is why she insists on hanging all over Edelgard! Claude's no help, so Hilda takes the issue of getting Monica away from her girlfriend into her own hands.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg & Monica von Ochs, Hilda Valentine Goneril & Claude von Riegan, Hilda Valentine Goneril/Edelgard von Hresvelg
Comments: 6
Kudos: 85





	An Adequate Reassurance

She hated red, Hilda decided.

It wasn’t, like, a personal problem or anything. She didn’t hold anything against the color itself. It was a good color! Not pink, obviously, but still a good color.

The thing was, these days, every time she saw the stupid color, she wanted to pick up her training axe and chuck it at some unfortunate student’s head.

More specifically: _Monica’s_ head.

Because that was the root of her problem: Monica von Ochs. Monica von _fucking_ Ochs.

She’d shown up just a few days ago. Apparently, she’d gotten kidnapped by the Death Knight before she could graduate last year. Hilda couldn’t really fault her that—Lady Rhea had announced that she wanted to finish her schooling since she hadn’t been able to. No judgement there. But then she’d requested to rejoin the Black Eagles, and that was when her issues began.

Like all of the Adrestian nobility, Monica seemed to have grown up with Edelgard, and the two of them were impossibly close. Or, at least, that’s how it appeared to Hilda. They’d been practically joined at the hip since the moment Monica had reappeared, and Hilda did _not_ like that. It was impossible for her to pull Edelgard aside and have a conversation with her, because Monica refused! To! Leave! Her! Alone!

Hilda could see her now, just on the other side of the dining hall, sitting at Edelgard’s side and practically drooling over everything she said. Anger rose up in Hilda’s chest at the sight of Edelgard’s tacit allowal of her proximity. She wasn’t quite at that drooling level—Edelgard was much more dignified than that—but to see that her girlfriend was actually _letting_ Monica hang all over her?

“Careful, Hilda.” Claude sat across the table from her, casually eating his share of the sautéed pheasant he’d picked up for their lunches. “Squeeze that fork any tighter and you’ll snap it in half.”

Hilda shot him a sickly-sweet smile—a grimace, more like—and set her fork down by her plate. Despite his satisfied smirk, she did not acknowledge the fact that the fork was indeed clearly bent.

“Do you see what Monica’s doing over there?” Hilda hissed, lowering her voice so their conversation stayed just between the two of them.

“Yeah. She’s eating lunch. Same as us.”

Hilda rolled her eyes, groaning as she picked up one of the spare forks Claude had grabbed for her when he’d gotten their meals.

“That’s not what I mean, _Claude._ Just—just _look_ at her! Conniving little bitch.” Stabbing her fork into a piece of pheasant breast, she shoved the meat into her mouth and glared at Monica with all the fury of a scorned lover.

 _She_ was supposed to be the one hanging all over Edelgard. _She_ was supposed to be the one laughing at her stupid jokes, tangling her fingers through her hair, stealing soft kisses whenever they caught a brief moment alone.

Claude pointed his fork at her. “Aren’t the two of you on a break, anyway?” he asked, disrupting Hilda’s boiling anger. “I mean, if that’s the case, then you don’t really have a leg to stand on. Maybe Edelgard’s just decided to stop playing your games and move on.”

Instead of saying anything in return, Hilda just stuffed her mouth again and chewed angrily. Claude had a point, and she regretted every moment of her friendship with him.

“But whenever we take a break,” she whined after swallowing her bite, “It’s _assumed_ we’re gonna get back together.”

She paused and frowned. What if she’d been the only one thinking like that? What if Edelgard _was_ moving on from her?

Sure, their relationship wasn’t perfect. They fought. They made out. Sometimes they made out while fighting. Sometimes they went further while fighting. And sure, the whole dating-the-future-leader-of-a-different-country thing made things like _emotions_ and _honesty_ and _considering a future together_ difficult.

But she really liked Edelgard. Like, _really_ liked her. There was a push and pull to their interactions that was nothing short of addicting. While Hilda had to admit that maybe their relationship wouldn’t have started without that incendiary spark of antagonistic tension, she’d grown to appreciate Edelgard for so much more.

It hurt to consider that maybe Edelgard didn’t reciprocate those feelings.

Claude noticed her silence and reached out to pat her hand.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he said with a smile. It wasn’t big, but Hilda was comforted by the fact that it looked to be one of his genuine ones. “You’ve always made up so far, right?”

“So far,” Hilda agreed.

“Then what’s made this time any different?”

“Haven’t you been listening? It’s fucking _Monica_!” Hilda groaned, dropping her fork onto her plate with a clatter. What was the point of her telling Claude all of her woes if he was just gonna forget right away? Well. He didn’t forget—he was too damn smart for that—but that he’d ignored the core root of her issue?

The feet of her chair shrieked against the floor as she stood up. “You know what?” she announced, “you’re being totally useless right now, Claude, so it looks like I’m gonna have to figure this shit out by myself.”

“Yeah, maybe you should tackle this one solo.” His arms behind his head, Claude stretched out against the back of his seat. “Your whole thing with Edelgard is too complicated for me to be of any help.”

Hilda stuck her tongue out at him as she gathered her plate up. “You’re just too slow to understand the delicate workings of a beautiful young maiden’s heart,” she said. Then, leaning across the table to press a kiss to his cheek, she let said plate fall down on top of Claude’s empty one. “You can take this to the kitchen for me to make up for it.” 

She didn’t stick around to listen to Claude’s protests. Instead, she skipped away towards Edelgard’s distant table and the enemy sitting there. She slowed down as she drew closer, however, and let the furious pounding in her chest prepare her for the approaching battle.

“Hey, Edelgard.” Hilda tangled her fingers together behind her back as she greeted her on-again, off-again girlfriend. She said nothing to Monica, and pointedly so.

At the sound of her voice, Edelgard turned to look at her, as did Monica with her goddamn red hair. Edelgard’s expression took on a tense, guarded nature that hadn’t been there before and she returned her gaze towards her meal. Monica, meanwhile, lifted her hand in an enthusiastic wave.

“Hilda! Hello there!” Monica exclaimed with a little waggle of her fingers. Hilda wanted to vomit. Monica had been pretty cheerful before she’d left last year, but this? This was too much to handle, even for Hilda.

“Heyyyy, Monica.” Hilda kept her grimace stuffed way down and just smiled. Not nicely, but she smiled. “Mind if I steal Edelgard away for a sec? I just wanna have a little chat.”

“Actually, go ahead and say it.” With a too-wide grin, Monica reached out and wrapped her arms tightly around one of Edelgard’s. “Whatever you can say to Edel, you can say to me. Right, Edel?”

Edelgard looked a little perturbed at the sudden contact, but to Hilda’s disappointment, she didn’t push Monica away. Jealousy flared up in Hilda’s chest like a firecracker. ‘Edel,’ she’d called Edelgard. ‘ _Edel,_ ’ like they were more than just close friends.

Goddess above, she wanted to _strangle_ that girl.

Hilda smiled with grit teeth and tossed her hair. “Actually, Monica, this is like, _super_ personal, so if you could get your pretty little nose out of my business, I’d really appreciate it.” She gave Edelgard a pointed look, trying to convey the underlying meaning of her words with her expression.

Edelgard had been so fastidious about keeping their relationship under wraps, about keeping it a secret from all of their peers. It would make no sense for her to suddenly be okay with letting Monica in on their… _them_ -ness.

To her relief, Edelgard shrugged Monica off with a sigh and stood up to join Hilda.

“ _Actually_ ,” she said as she adjusted the lower hem of her uniform jacket, “Hilda’s right. This is a conversation she and I should be having privately.”

Monica’s jaw dropped at the sudden rejection. Inwardly, Hilda punched the air in victory. That red-haired bitch could _suck_ it! Outwardly, however, she remained as prim and proper as common courtesy required of her.

“Great, cool!” Hilda grabbed Edelgard’s gloved hand within her own, and pulled her close enough that their sides brushed together. Elation ran through her at even that brief touch. With a snarky grin, Hilda lifted her hand in a wave that mocked the one Monica had given her just a few minutes before. “Later, _Mo~ni~ca_! I may or may not bring her back!”

“Don’t be cruel,” Edelgard murmured, knocking their conjoined hands against Hilda’s side. Not over her little one-sided spat with Monica yet, however, Hilda winked and blew her enemy a kiss before twirling around with Edelgard in tow.

Fucking Monica.

* * *

Dragging Edelgard away from the dining hall was way easier than she expected, but Hilda wasn’t really surprised by that. So much of their relationship was made up of poached moments of solitude that they were getting pretty damn used to sneaking around.

“So, what’s Monica’s deal?” Hilda asked, trying to keep her voice light and bouncy as they walked together. “Like, she doesn’t even give you space to breathe.”

Behind her, Edelgard was silent. Hilda glanced back to see a tense expression on her girlfriend’s face.

“I don’t know if I’d be able to put up with someone that clingy,” Hilda continued, but she wasn’t able to go any further before Edelgard stopped dead in her tracks.

“Did you actually have something to say to me?” she asked drily, pulling her hand out of Hilda’s. The air felt cold against Hilda’s empty palm, and she frowned. Edelgard twirled a lock of pale hair around her finger. “Or did you interrupt my meal for no reason at all?”

Hilda frowned. She hadn’t really thought beyond her initial plan. Was it her fault that said plan consisted of little more than getting between Edelgard and Monica? All she’d wanted to do was drag her girlfriend away from that little homewrecker before she did some real damage, but she hadn’t actually believed she’d get this far.

“I have my reasons,” she finally said, hiding her jealousy behind an air of indifference. She knew that Edelgard would immediately see through it, sure, but she did it anyway. For posterity’s sake.

“That’s not an answer,” Edelgard said.

Before Hilda had a chance to respond, though, Edelgard grabbed her by the shoulder and pushed her back up against a stone outcropping. The air knocked out of her chest, Hilda found herself looking straight into a solemn pair of violet eyes. 

“That’s not an answer,” Edelgard repeated in a low, dangerous voice. A chill ran down Hilda’s spine at the sound, and she swallowed despite the sudden dryness of her mouth. “Tell me what you’re up to, Hilda.”

“I don’t like her,” Hilda murmured once she no longer felt like her heart was going to burst. “She’s too close to you. And I _know_ we’re taking a break, but—”

“And why does that matter?” Edelgard moved in closer to Hilda’s face, so close that her lips were just a hair’s breadth away from Hilda’s own. “Are you truly so worried that I would leave you for her?”

Hilda could feel the warmth of her breath on her face, smell the bergamot of the tea she’d been drinking alongside her meal. Her knees tried to tremble; and she locked them firm.

“And what if I am?” Hilda lifted her chin in defiance, staring those violet eyes on steadily. Edelgard drew back, ever so slightly, and lifted a brow. Hilda liked the expression on her, but she only liked it more when Edelgard’s mouth thinned out into a smug smile.

“Then perhaps I ought to assure you otherwise.”

Edelgard’s eyes widened as Hilda leaned forwards to initiate the inevitable kiss before she could. Hilda smiled against the softness of her lips. Pride welled up in her chest at having caught her girlfriend off-guard, and as Edelgard pressed against her, trying to wrestle control of the encounter from her, Hilda felt confident in the relationship between them.

She may not have gone into the encounter with a plan, but this was _definitely_ how she’d wanted it to end up.

Ah, well, not exactly.

“You still haven’t said anything about Monica,” Hilda said, turning her face away from the barrage of kisses without any warning. That wasn’t enough to dissuade Edelgard from her path, however, and it took a few more kisses along the side of her neck for Edelgard to look back to her.

“There’s nothing to say,” Edelgard said in a breathless whisper. Hilda shuddered as Edelgard reached up and tangled her fingers behind Hilda’s neck, the softness of her fingertips a gentle tickle against the sensitive nape of her neck. “I don’t want to talk about her, anyway. Not when I’m here with you.”

“You promise we’re okay?”

“I promise. We’re okay.”

Closing her eyes in relief, Hilda let herself fall back into kissing Edelgard with a sigh. She cradled her girlfriend’s thin face in her hands, pressed their mouths together in kiss after kiss after kiss after kiss. But once Hilda had to pull away, catch her breath in quiet gasps, Edelgard swooped in to take over.

Hilda lost track of how long their push-and-pull went on. When the ringing of the monastery bell alerted them to the fact that students and teachers alike were about to come pouring out of their buildings, making them finally tear away from each other’s furtive kisses and wandering hands, Edelgard reached out to take a strand of pink hair between her fingers. Hilda smiled dazedly at her girlfriend as Edelgard brought the strand up to her lips.

“Don’t be a stranger, El,” Hilda murmured, even as Edelgard stepped back and let her prize fall back down to Hilda’s shoulder.

“In a perfect world, we wouldn’t be.” Edelgard smoothed her own hair down, hiding the evidence of Hilda’s passion.

“It would be nice to live in a perfect world, then.”

“Mm. It would.” Her immaculate appearance reclaimed, Edelgard gave Hilda a soft, genuine smile. Hilda hoped beyond hope that it was genuine, at least, because the love she felt for Edelgard certainly was. At least, she was pretty damn sure it was.

Hilda laughed. “Go ahead, El. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

Edelgard stepped in to steal one last kiss, then turned around and began the walk back to real life.

Leaning up against the stone wall she’d been held against just a few moments ago, Hilda touched her lips, swollen from her girlfriend's affection, and watched the flutter of Edelgard's red cape as she walked away. 

Then, she frowned. As nice as their rendezvous had been, she hadn’t actually learned anything new about what was going on between Edelgard and Monica. She was just as clueless about their relationship as before. But on the bright side, she felt more secure about her own relationship with Edelgard. 

She still hated Monica’s guts. That was a given.

But maybe—just maybe—red wasn’t such an awful color after all.

**Author's Note:**

> A great thanks to [Spiderlily](LINK) and [Fox](LINK) for their great beta work—and an additional thanks to Nat from twitter for making me want to actually finish this! And given some things going on irl, it was great fun to write Hilda being so pissed. 
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts. Concrit is always good, and I'd like to improve.
> 
> I can be found on both my [tumblr](https://tansybells.tumblr.com) and my [twitter.](https://twitter.com/tansybells) Comments and kudos are always appreciated. Thank you for your time! ❤


End file.
